Left-of-center authors argue that the belief that guns are needed to stave off government tyranny is fundamentally incorrect and that insurrectionists are the real threat to freedom. Conversely, a libertarian examines the origins and growth of the militia movement. The two books were presented together in Hartford.

Robert Churchill is an associate professor of early American history at Hartford University and has published numerous articles on the American Revolution and American political violence.

Joshua Horowitz is executive director of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence and the Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence. An attorney, he was a visiting scholar at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Casey Anderson is currently a lawyer in private practice in Washington, D.C. He has served in senior staff positions with the U.S. Congress, the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, and Americans for Gun Safety.